Solutions
by AlterEthereal
Summary: [Twincest, shounenai, HikaruxKaoru] Only a week into highschool, the Hitachiin brothers are faced with the idea of separation, with some interesting results. [oneshot]


**Author's Note:** Welcome to Hoska's first Ouran fic. I wrote this basically because I like the twins, and their relationship. It's very touching. I think in the manga their antics at the host club are more of an act, rather than real romance, but I haven't read it and don't really mind anyway.

Taking a break from my usual fandom (Naruto) for a second because chapter 10 of LC is being a bitch to write and chapter 5 of TSG is still being beta'd. (Fear not, my usual fans, I'm already quite a ways into TSG chapter 6, so you'll get your SasuNaru fix eventually.)

**EDIT: **yaoi101 on deviantArt created a fantastic doujinshi adaptation of this fanfic! Please have a look at it here (sans spaces): http : / / yaoi101 . deviantart . com / art / Solutions-18-58815232

**Summary:** Only a week into highschool, the Hitachiin brothers are faced with the idea of separation, with some interesting results.

**Pairings:** Hikaru x Kaoru

**Warnings:** Twincest, shounen-ai, mild angst, and some rather devilish teacher-abuse.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.

**Solutions**

They were four when they realized that a mirror was a piece of glass.

They were six when they noticed they were closer than other brothers.

When they turned nine, they tried sleeping in separate rooms. In the morning, they both confessed to getting not even a moment of sleep.

By the time they were twelve, they'd become accustomed to the fact that nothing else could supplement the need they had for each other.

They were fourteen when the concept of parting ways made itself known in a teacher's not-so-innocent question during a school career fair, and they began to fear being separated.

It was that same day that their closeness took a massive, unexpected leap.

In a bedroom the size of a small apartment, the Hitachiin brothers sat at their respective desks, engrossed in the night's homework. The lights were off, but the sunlight streaming through the large bay window was more than enough to work by, even as the fiery celestial body crept ever closer to the horizon. The atmosphere was a calming one, the scratching of pencils and light rustling of fabric attempting to soothe tense nerves.

But Kaoru still couldn't help raising his right hand from his math homework, pencil and all, to brush back against his hair. It had only been cut about a week and a half before, and the change was still fresh. Hikaru's was the same as his, though, and he supposed that as long as he and his brother changed together, any change could be gotten used to.

Glancing to his right, he watched Hikaru pore over his French language homework. It was disheartening to watch his brother struggle, especially with something that he, himself, didn't find particularly difficult. It meant that there was a difference between them.

They were uncharacteristically quiet that evening. Usually, they'd talk until they forgot their studies and laughed so hard they couldn't breathe, making fun of anything and everything, if only just to see how many miles long they could make their list of inside jokes.

But that day was different. It wasn't that the silence was awkward exactly, but it was stuffy and pregnant, full of things they didn't want to say. Neither wanted to break it, mutually afraid that if they did, all the unsaid things would start pouring out the cracks.

But more frightening than that was the fact that there existed things that they didn't say to each other.

And so Kaoru, in an act of boldness, decided that such a fact was unacceptable.

"Ne, Hikaru, what do you think of high school so far?"

Hikaru looked up, pretending he hadn't noticed the harsh whiplash of the broken silence. "It's school. Doesn't seem that much different than middle school."

"Yeah, there's still girls, books, teachers... did you see the way the one looked at us when she saw we were holding hands?"

Hikaru chuckled deviously, though still with an air of tightness. "Yeah, she seemed absolutely scandalized. We should make a show of it next time."

Kaoru laughed as well. "Maybe we can even get her to sputter. It'd be priceless."

Hikaru put his pencil down and brought his hands to either side of his head, mimicking the teacher's hair style, before speaking in a high-pitched parody of the woman's voice, "Holding hands isn't for brothers! Indecent!"

And they both laughed again, though the tension only grew. It was as if the topic was begging imminently, and they knew it was coming.

"And that other one, the one that led the opening career fair? I thought she was gonna have an aneurysm when I almost tripped on that step and you caught me."

"Yeah, she had a lot of nerve, too. At the second part tomorrow, we'll have to think up something to _really_ apall her."

"No kidding. She's really asking for it, with that bit about 'What will happen when your career paths drift apart'."

"And the whole 'Eventually, you'll go your separate ways' thing. I mean, yeah right."

They were still smirking, but somehow, a witty reply wouldn't form on Kaoru's tongue. He wanted to laugh it off, for Hikaru to present some magnificent assurance and tell him he was just overthinking, or not thinking enough, or thinking something stupid, or really anything to derail the thoughts that had been swarming his mind since that afternoon, weighing the air down with a foreign and unpleasant nervousness.

But instead, his brother gazed back like a mirror. They stayed that way for a few minutes, Kaoru's smirk dropping into a sullen smile, and gradually off his face altogether. Hikaru's followed soon after.

Their eyes remained locked, while the three foot distance between their chairs seemed to stretch longer and longer every second.

"She was wrong, right?"

In response to the slight shake in Kaoru's voice, likely imperceptible to anyone but himself who's voice was almost identical, Hikaru hurriedly stood from his chair and moved to his brother, annihilating all the distance as if yanking a chain.

Grabbing the younger's wrist, Hikaru pulled Kaoru forcefully yet gently to his feet, the latter's pencil clacking to the floor as it's owner was enveloped in a warm embrace.

"Of course. You couldn't get away from me if you tried."

Kaoru finally let out the breath he'd been holding, and relaxed into his brother's arms, wrapping his own loosely around Hikaru's waist.

The silence that followed was a much more comfortable one, honest and relieved, if still a bit scared. After all, growing up was going to happen sooner or later, and they were both becoming increasingly aware of all the things that were going to be pushing them apart in the future.

One thing in particular crossed Kaoru's mind as he stood against the body of his brother. An image floated behind his eyelids of another person standing in his place. Another person, a girl, feeling those arms around her shoulders, pressing her cheek against the white blouse of Hikaru's school uniform, hearing his quickened heart beat beneath it.

If Hikaru fell in love with someone, where would Kaoru be? If he couldn't be with his brother, his other half, then where would he be? Where would he fit?

Maybe nowhere at all.

"Hikaru... what's going to happen when we fall in love?"

The boy addressed pulled back slightly to look his twin in the eye questioningly. "What do you mean? We're not going to let some girl come between us, are we?"

"Well, no, it's just... if we fall in love with separate girls, they'll want to be with one of us but not the other. And if we fall in love with the same girl, she might favor one of us over the other, or we could even end up fighting over her. No matter what, we lose."

Hikaru frowned. "So then let's not fall in love."

"But that's awfully sad, don't you think?"

"Then..." The elder brother had to think for a few moments before it hit him. Really, it was the obvious solution, if a bit unorthodox. But if they ignored the social stigma and focused solely on the world of _us_ that was the only world they ever lived in, it was perfect. "Then... let's fall in love with each other."

Kaoru's eyes widened as he comprehended Hikaru's words and began to register the implications of the suggestion. It didn't take long for him to catch on to his brother's logic, but he still had to wonder... "Hikaru, are you serious?"

Really, it wouldn't have been the first time they'd joked about being romantic. Ever since middle school, the sight of two boys their age, brothers or not, holding hands and being intimate in general with each other and no one else raised suspicions. And they didn't spend much effort defending their relationship for the simple reason that they didn't care enough about what other people thought of them.

But certainly they laughed about others' opinions behind closed doors. The idea that they might be involved with each other on a sensual basis was, at the time, a far cry from the truth. And, as did most of their deceptions, this amused them to no end.

Now, as Hikaru stood before Kaoru, his hands lightly gripping shoulders identical to his own, he nodded softly. "Yeah."

And just in case his brother still held any doubt, he let his palms move from Kaoru's shoulders to the base of his neck, where his collar rested loosely, the fabric rustling as hands gently coasted up the boy's milky neck and jaw to cup his cheeks lightly. Leaning and guiding, and finding no resistance to speak of, Hikaru brought their lips together.

As soon as Kaoru's eyes closed, he allowed his to do the same, brushing his mouth ever-so-slighly against the other's. Kaoru brushed back, lips trembling as he experimented with the feeling, and the awkward, but not nearly as repulsive as it probably should've been, idea of kissing his brother.

In fact, as Kaoru realized, it wasn't repulsive at all. Rather, it was comforting and warm, and beckoning in an almost seductive way. It spoke volumes of trust and affection and love, and he felt very secure for the first time since that morning. Perhaps even since they'd entered Ouran High School and noticed that their lives were changing.

Oh well, they decided as they broke apart slowly, searching each other's expression for any sign of discomfort and finding none. If maturity wanted to break them apart, let it try. They'd just have to build a connection so strong between them that a knife the size of a sky scraper couldn't sever it.

Hikaru smirked, running one hand through his brother's hair. "You approve?"

Kaoru's lips formed a small, easy smile. "Emphatically." And then, suddenly, his smile morphed into a devious grin full of teeth. "Ne, Hikaru..."

"Yes?"

"I think I've got the perfect payback for that old hag."

Hikaru's grin immediately copied Kaoru's. "You're positively contemptuous sometimes, you know that?"

One day, two flustered teachers, and fourty-three blushing freshmen girls later, Suou Tamaki invited them to join the Ouran High School Host Club.


End file.
